Bedrock and boulders, confined between steep banks, falling steadily from the plateau. The fall of the river on this page is the top of the whole-river drawing, and it is the steepest part of it: this is where the Kowmung loses height fastest. Pockets between boulders, short plunge pools, bedrock slots, and the occasional gravel tail where a side creek comes in. Nowhere is it wide.

The bank survey draws the headwaters as mostly open woodland rather than the closed canopy of the gorge, with the sky visible above the river more often than not. That is the one advantage this stretch has over the water below: you can see your fly, and the fish can see a beetle land.

Three tributaries matter. The Tuglow and the Hollanders make the river. Morong Creek marks the end of this stretch and is itself included in the trout classification.

Brown trout are the fish the classification is written for, and the kind of water this is. Nothing has ever been stocked in the Kowmung and no survey has looked at this stretch, so there is no count to give you. A small, cold, steep headwater with light in it and nobody fishing it is as good a place for wild trout as the Blue Mountains offers.

Food comes off the trees and out of the gravel. Beetles and ants through summer, the odd cicada from the tall timber, and small caddis and mayfly nymphs under every stone in the tails. In water this small the fish are opportunists and a well-presented dry is rarely refused for being the wrong pattern.

From the October long weekend, when the trout season opens, until the first heavy frosts. Late spring can be wet and the river responds to a plateau storm within hours; a few dry days and it is clear and low again. Summer is good under the trees and the shade keeps it cool. Autumn is the quiet best of it.

There is no gauge up here. Cedar Ford is far below and reads the whole catchment, so when it is rising this stretch has already risen. Read the forecast for the Boyd plateau and the river in front of you, and if either is against you, do not go in.

Small-stream fishing at its most literal. A short four weight if you have one, a leader you can roll and flick under the canopy, and one rig for the day. A Royal Wulff or a small Stimulator you can pick out in dappled light, with a tungsten Pheasant Tail a foot or two beneath it if the pockets are deep enough to warrant it. A dry-dropper covers both without a change.

Fish upstream, one cast to a pocket, then a step. The fish are in the soft water beside the current, in the tail of each plunge pool, and under the boulder shadows. In water this small your approach matters more than the fly: stay low, keep the rod tip out of the light, and never wade a pocket you can fish from below.

Wading is slow and slick. Bedrock in a shaded gorge grows a film that felt or studs only partly answer. If you cannot see the next footing, do not take it.

The fire trails off Kanangra Walls Road are the way in. The Kowmung River Fire Trail reaches the river near the top, about ten kilometres of four-wheel-drive track from the road, or a shorter walk in from the Dingo Dell side. The Ben Lomond Fire Trail off Sheepstation Forest Road touches the Hollanders just above the junction. The Morong Falls trail ends a few hundred metres short of the river and finishes on foot. All of these are inside Kanangra-Boyd National Park and are closed after fire or heavy rain; a track on a map is not a right to drive it today, so check the current park alerts before you leave.

Remote headwater country, no signal, cold at any time of year. Carry a first-aid kit you know how to use, tell someone where you are going, and leave time to get out in daylight.

NSW DPIRD classifies the Kowmung as a general trout water upstream of, and including, Morong Creek. That is this stretch, and Morong Creek with it. A general trout water carries the NSW trout season, which closes the river from the June long weekend to the October long weekend, and the general-trout-water size and bag limits. Those are the rules an angler here fishes under.

The dates follow the public holidays and the numbers move. Take them from the current NSW freshwater synopsis and the trout closure notification, not from this page.